Electric railroad.



T. M. ERICKSON.

ELECTRIC RAILROAD.

APP'LICATION FILED NOV. 13. 1916r 1,240,184. PatentedSept. 18,1917.

2 SHEETSSHEET I fflEf/CkJak vvdwcom T. M. ERICKSON.

ELECTRIC RAILROAD.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 13. 1916- 1.240 18%.. Patented Sept. 18, 1917.

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THOMAS M. EBICKSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. i8, 191 "2.

Application filed November 13, 1916. Serial No. 131,039.

ful Improvements in Electric Railroads;-

and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the,

invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to railroads and particularly to electric railroads.

In particular the invention relates to means controlled by the operator of a car for throwing a switch in such a railroad so that the car will run in one direction or the other at the will of the-operator. Heretofore, it has been customary in the construction of electrically operated switch throwing devices to employ some means of direct contact between the car supported apparatus and the track apparatus. All such arrangements are found to be objectionable because of the frequent presence of conditions due to weather and the like, which prevent proper contacting of the moving parts on the car with the stationary parts between or adjacent the rails of the track.

One important object of the invention is to provide an improved means of controlling the position of a switch point or other removable switch member wherein there will be no contact between the parts on the car and the parts held stationary on the track, the control being obtained by induced magnetism.

A second important object of the invention is to provide an improved arrangement of parts in a switch throwing device controlled by induced magnetism, wherein the operator of the car may, by the movement of a switch, reverse the polarity of the inducing magnet and thereby reverse the polarity of the track magnet so that a circuit closer, controlled by said track magnets, may

be caused to move in one direction or the other to close one of two circuits which operate the switch or effect operation of the switch.

With the above and other objects in view, as will be hereinafter apparent the invention consists in general of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing, and specifi cally claimed.

1n the accompanying drawing, like characters of reference indicate like parts in the several views, and

Figure 1 isa diagrammatic view of the working parts 9f the device showing the wiring. thereof.

Fig. 2 is a cross section through a car showing the car magnet and a portion of the track carried means for controlling a switch point.

Fig'. 3 is an enlarged detail view of the car switch.

Fig. dis a plan View of the track switch and the mechanism immediately adjacent. a Fig. 5 is a-section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of the electric track switch used for controlling the solenoid which in turn operates the switch point or other moving switch member. 4

As illustrating one embodiment by means of which the invention may be carried out there has been disclosed in the accompanying drawings, a car 10 of ordinary construction running on rails 11 and beneath a trolley or feed wire 12 receiving its current from the usual source, the latter not being deemed necessary here to be shown. Mounted beneath this car is an electromagnct 13 having downturned poles or ends 14. Fixed conveniently to the operator of the car is a casing 15 wherein is pivoted a switch arm 16 having a handle 17 and carryingon opposite sides of the arm contacts 18 and 19. Fixed at each side of the switch arm and in the path of said contacts are the spring contact members 20 and 21 respectively. These spring contact members carry blocks of in- ,sulation 22 at their free ends and these blocks of insulation are adapted, when the spring contact members are moved, to strike against other spring contact members 23 and 2d and move them into engagement with fixed contacts 25 and 26. Leading from the wire 12, preferably by means of the trolley pole, common in cars, is a wire 27 which is connected in multiple to the contacts 25 and 26 by wires 28 and 29 respectively.

Leading from the contacts 21 and 23 is a Wire 30 which is connected to one end of the winding of the magnet 13 while a similar wire 31 connects the remaining end of the winding of said magnet with the contacts 20 and 24. Leading from the switch arm 16 is a wire 32 which is grounded as at By means of this apparatus the polarity of the magnet 13 may be reversed. For instance let it be assumed that the magnet is so wound that when current flows in through the wire 30 the end to which that wire is connected will be the north end of the magnet and the remaining end the south end, it being obvious that when current flows in through the wire 31 the positions of these ends will be reversed. Now, if the handle 17 be moved to the right then current will flow from the wire 12 through the wire 27, Wire 28, contact 25, contact 23, wire 30, to the magnet, and from the magnet through the wire 31, contact 20, contact 18, switch arm 16, and wire 32, to the ground 33. In like manner if the handle 17 be moved to the left current will flow from the wire 12 through the wire 27, wire 29, contact 26, contact 24, wire 31, through the magnet and returning through the wire 30, contact 21, contact 19, switch arm 16, and wire 32, to the ground 33. From the foregoing it will be observed that the wire 30 is connectcd to both the contact 23 and the contact 21 while the wire 31 is connected to both the contact 20 and the contact 24.

Thus by proper movement of the handle 17 the polarity of the magnet 13 may be controlled at will.

Mounted in a suitable casing 34 between the rails of the track is a pair of paramagnetic bodies 35 and 36, the upper ends of these bodies being so arranged that as the magnet ends 14 are moved along the track through the movement of the car these ends 14 will pass close to the upper ends of said bodies. These bodies 35 and 36 are preferably made of soft iron and their lower ends are arranged to lie in closely spaced relation so that a permanent magnet, which is pivoted to the casing .as at 37 may have one end lie between the lower ends of said bodies as at 38, the magnet being capable of vibratory or oscillatory movement between said lower ends. The remaining end of said magnet carries a pair of oppositely disposed insulating blocks 39 and these blocks bear respectively against spring contact members 40 and 41 which are respectively movable by the movement of the permanent magnet into engagement with stationary contacts 42 and 43 respectively. The contacts 40 and 41 are connected in multiple by the wire 44 with the trolley wire 12.

Adjacent the track switch which it is desired to control is a pair of solenoids indicated at 45 and 46 respectively. One of these solenoids, as 45, is connected to the contact 42 by a wire 47 while the other solenoid 46 is similarly connected to the contact 43 by a wire 48. The remaining ends of these solenoids are connected in multiple by a wire 49 to the ground 50. It will be noted that it is preferable to ground both the wire 32 and the wire 49 on one of the track rails, although this is not absolutely essential.

These solenoids 45 and 46 have a common core 50 and this core is connected by means of an arm 51 with the movable member of a switch, here indicated as the switch point 52. It will be obvious that the arm 51 is to'be taken as merely typical of any desired form of connection as suitable levers or other devices may be employed in place of the plain arm indicated without requiring other than the ordinary skill of a mechanic to adapt the device to the particular circumstances in which it may be used.

It will be observed that the magnet 13 extends transversely of the car and that the paramagnetic bodies are placed in such position on the track that the transversely of the track an consequently of the car. Now as the magnet 13 passes over these bodies, provided the magnet is also extend then in an energized condition, magnetism will be induced in these bodies. By example, let us suppose that the upper end of the permanent magnet between the bodies is so magnetized as to produce a north pole at this end. Then if the polarity of the magnet 13 is such that a south pole is induced at the right hand end of said magnet 13 a similar south pole will be induced at the lower end of the body 35 while a north pole will be induced at the lower end of the body 36. Under these conditions the upper end of the permanent magnet will move to the right and this will close the contact 41 against the contact 43. Current will then flow from the wire 12, through the wire 44, contact 41, contact 43, wire 48, winding of the solenoid 46 and wire 49 to the ground 50. This will energize the solenoid 46 and cause the solenoid core 50 to move in the direction of the solenoid 46 and close the switch in the arrangement shown. Correspondingly if the polarity of the magnet 13 be reversed the lower poles of the bodies 35 and 36 will also be reversed, and the upper end of the permanent magnet will move to the left which will close contact between the contacts 40 and 42. Under these circumstances the current will fiow from the wire 44 through the contact 40, contact 42, wire 47, winding of the solenoid 45, and wire 49 back to the ground 50. This will cause movement of the solenoid core 50' to the left and will conse uently open the switch.

Now it will be 0 vious that as the operator of the car desires either to travel straight ahead on the track or turn outv miner switch point 52 and he can thus without stopping the car follow the desired line of travel. It is to be noted that the spring contacts 40 and 41 are of suflicient strength to break contact with the contacts 42 and 43 respectively as soon as the bodies 35 and 36 have been demagnetized by the retreat of the magnet 13 therefrom. The breaking of this contact will not however aflect the position of the switch because the solenoid which has been energized will not have its effect counteracted by the other solenoid since the latter will not be energized until the permanent magnet is moved by the action of the bodies 35 and 36 in the opposite direction.

There has thus been provided a simple and eflicient device of the kind described and for the purpose specified.

It is obvious that many minor changes may be made in the form and construction of the invention without departing from the material principles thereof. It is not therefore desired to confine the invention to the exact form herein shown and described but it is wished to include all such as properly come Within the scope claimed.

Having thus described the. invention, what is claimed as new, is

1. The combination with the movable.

magnetism induced from a moving magnet,

said means comprising a pair of spaced paramagnetic bodies each having one end adjacent the path of the moving magnet,

and a permanent bar magnet pivoted adjacent the remaining ends of said bodies and having one end projecting between the adjacent ends of the bodies, the remaining end posed adjacent each other, a permanent magnet pivoted adjacent said remaining ends and having one end projecting therebetween for oscillation by magnetism induced in said bodies by the passage of the electro-magnet past the bodies, apair of switches disposed on opposite sides of the other end of said permanent magnetand arranged to close selectively under the influence of movement of the permanent magnet in a respective direction, a track switch having a member movable to open and closed positions, and actuating means electrically connected to respective switches of the pair and arranged to effect desired movement of the member to a selected position upon closing of a respective switch.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS M. ERIGKSON. 

